WHEN a long list of professional and amateurs tee off at the PGA Cataluyna Resort on Saturday, the aim is to secure playing rights for the 2016 European Tour schedule. Five days of intense, a high pressure game is on the cards, but the North-East’s leading players can all take satisfaction in knowing they do not have to endure qualifying school.

Close House’s Chris Paisley finished just inside the top 110 automatic Tour places, to join Harrogate’s John Parry, Barnard Castle’s Rob Dinwiddie and Hartlepool’s Graeme Storm in preserving a place on next year’s top table.

“It’s actually really good for the region,” said Dinwiddie, who is determined to enjoy a proper break now until returning to action possibly after Christmas in South Africa. “To see Chris Paisley make the cut (at the UBS Hong Kong Open to finish 108th in the Race to Dubai) and stay on the Tour was fantastic.

“There’s Graeme Storm and myself as well who have enjoyed better years, so long may that continue and we can help to keep North-East golf on the map.”

Paisley was determined to stay on the Tour again after having to drop down to the Challenge Tour after just one year on the main Tour in 2013. Twelve months ago he had to reclaim his card through the qualifying school route.

Dinwiddie, after claiming his best European Tour finish since climbing to 72nd in 2009, has previously had to try his luck in Spain at final qualifying too.

“I have never got my card from Q-School, I have played a few times in it as well, so it’s a good job really,” said Dinwiddie. “Q-School is a really tough week at the end of a year of golf, so it’s never easy. I have a lot of friends who will be trying that and it will be hard.”

The 32-year-old enjoyed an impressive second half of the year to climb in to the top 110, which ended for him when he finished tied 35th in Hong Kong last month. That was the 11th time he had made the cut in his last 13 tournaments, including finishing third at the Lyonness Open and fourth at the Czech Masters.

“I have always felt I am good enough to stay on the main Tour,” said Dinwiddie, who had to withdraw last year on medical grounds because of a chronic back problem. “But it is a greater achievement this time around when you consider I missed my first nine cuts.”

The experiences of the last ten months, he hopes, will stand him in good stead going forward. This was not only the year when he re-established himself on the main circuit after an injury-plagued few years, it was also the year he played in his first Open Championship after 16 years of trying.

Conditions at St Andrews could not have been worse either, although he is still looking to use the memories of the Old Course to take him on to new heights in the years ahead.

“To be four under at St Andrews after ten (to tie with Jordan Spieth in eighth on the leaderboard) was great but it was always going to be hard coming back in, that’s what you expect there,” said Dinwiddie.

“We were coming back in the wind and it was tough. It was almost 10pm when we finished our round, there was a lot of waiting and it was cold. I was back there in October for the Dunhill Links and it was ten degrees warmer!

“I’m taking some time off now to give my back the best possible chance going in to the new year. I have to manage my back properly.

“If I can keep my back in check then my swing will work how I want it to. If that happens I am confident of enjoying a good 2016.”